Illegal Immigration Down 60% at Border Amid Coronavirus

AP Photo/Eric Gay

Illegal immigration is down nearly 60% at the southern border amid the coronavirus crisis, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday.

Officials reported arresting or encountering about 4,200 migrants who tried to enter illegally last week. That’s down from about 10,000 a week before the coronavirus upended things.

The Trump administration has implemented an unprecedented shutdown of the border. Commercial traffic is still getting through, but immigrants who are in the country illegally are being immediately returned, under an emergency policy from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That has cut the flow dramatically.

What hasn’t slowed is the pace of border wall construction.

New data from Customs and Border Protection shows 9 miles were completed between March 20 and April 3, even as much of the country was shutting down amid coronavirus fears.

Six of those new miles replaced old vehicle barriers erected during the Bush years, while one mile replaced outdated pedestrian fencing. The final 2 miles are new secondary fending, built in locations where no secondary fence existed.

Border officials say the construction is exempt from shelter-in-place orders from states such as California.

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